To:G. L. SHKLOVSKY[1]

Written:Written October 14, 1910Published:Published in full in 1930.

      First published (abridged) in 1927.

      Sent from Paris to Berne.

      Printed from the original.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,1974,

      Moscow,Volume 34,

      pages430-431.Translated:Clemens DuttTranscription\Markup:D. MorosPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive

      (2005).You may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.

Dear Comrade,

Manythanks for the letter and news of the Plekhanovite agitation. All such
information, which gives us an accurate idea of the moods prevailing among the
Social-Democrats abroad, is now extremely valuable to us. I too am thinking of
going on a lecture tour in Switzerland (Geneva, Lausanne, Berne,
Zurich[2]). I don’t know whether the journey will be worth it.

Regardinga bloc with Plekhanov, I think you are quite right that we should be
in favour of it. Since 1909 I have beenwhollyin favour of arapprochementwith the Plekhanovites. And even more so now. We can and
should build the Party only with the Plekhanovites—theVperyodandGolospeople should have been given up as hopeless long ago. It is
a mistake to think that the Plekhanovites are weak, mere “ciphers”
(as is sometimes said), etc. That is an impression existing abroad. I am deeply
convinced that nine-tenths of the Menshevikworkersin Russia are
Plekhanovites. The whole history of Menshevism in the revolution vouches for the
fact that Plekhanovism is the best (and therefore the most viable) product of
the proletarian stream of Mensheviks.

InCopenhagen, Plekhanov and I talked about publishing a popular newspaper. It
is essential. (Trotsky has clearly turned to the liquidators, to support of theGolosgroup, todisruptionof the Party bloc between the
Bolsheviks and Plekhanovites.) Plekhanov and I fully agree that nothing can be
done with Trotsky. We shall either establish a popular newspaper under the
C.O.,or separatelyby the group of Bolsheviks. Plekhanov has promised
to contribute. Money will be needed—we have exceedingly little. I am hop-ing for every assistance from you. We are struggling hard to establish a
periodical in Russia (à la VozrozhdeniyeorZhizn). We
can’t get the thing going, there is no secretary, no one through whom to
arrange things—our people are continually being arrested, worse luck! Yet
a periodical is
Essential.[3]

Allthe best.Yours,Lenin

[1]Shklovsky,G. L.(1875–1937)—member of the R.S.D.L.P. since
1898, carried on Party work in the towns of Byelorussia and abroad. From
1909 a political emigrant. Returned to Russia after the February
bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1917; worked in Nizhni-Novgorod and
Moscow.

Afterthe October Socialist Revolution worked in Party and government
institutions.

[2]Lenin’slecture tour In Switzerland evidently did not take place.

[3]Inthis and his next letter Lenin writes about arrangements for publishing
the Bolshevik legal journalMysl.